“You guys have suggested he’s going to raise taxes on the middle class and virtually every independent analyst who took a look at that claim said that’s not true.” (Obama’s plan is to raise taxes on those making $250,000+).

“Has your candidate gone too far?” she asked. See the video here.
Kelly, a former Washington lawyer, now co-anchor of “America’s Newsroom,” is a rising star at Fox News.

Barack Obama’s televised speech on race and racism today is likely to be parsed for days and cited for years. While the CNN anchors practically jumped out of their chairs at its end, a more productive conversation about its themes will emerge tonight, when “Nightline’s” Terry Moran sits down with the candidate. That telecast, at 10:30 p.m. on KMGH-Channel 7, will be part of ABC’s “America in Black and White” series.

If you missed this morning’s speech, it’s it on YouTube–37 minutes in its entirety, an eternity in television terms, not to mention in politics. The candidate, uniquely poised to speak to blacks and whites about resentments and distrust, touched on ideas rarely broached in the national conversation. He observed that, between his black preacher and his white grandmother, he was accustomed to cringing at incendiary remarks from both sides. What will this speech do for his candidacy? Leave that to the pundits, but it was amazing television.

A turn-about from the sound-bite culture, it went in depth (37 minutes! did the Gettysburg Address last 37 minutes?), inviting us to look beyond the superficial. A departure from the horse race aspect of campaigning, it dug into a difficult question rather than smoothing it over. The speech was an appeal to our higher selves, the sort of thing one supposes a real leader might do. Step up, America, he seemed to say. We’re better than simple sound bites.

Variety reports that the CW has ordered a pilot for a new series, “How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls,” based on the book by author Zoey Dean; the same publisher/production company is behind “Gossip Girl.”

Comedy Central hosts Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert announced today they’ll return to the air on Jan. 7 despite the writers strike. Both are members of the Writers Guild of America.

“In a statement, the hosts said they would prefer to return to work with their writers. “If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence,” they stated.

I’ll be thrilled to have Stewart back on the air. But doesn’t this dilute the impact of the strike? Is the public’s demand for bedtime entertainment more important than supporting the strike to get appropriate compensation for writers?

Yes! [photopress:110890_0873_thu.jpg,thumb,pp_image]America tuned in for the premiere of ABC’s “Pushing Daisies,” the best pilot of the season, giving it a significant ratings jump start. “Daisies” scored a 4.2 rating among the prized demographic of adults 18 to 49, leaving the competition in the dirt. See that, the mention of “magical realism” and the approval of critics didn’t hurt in the popularity contest that is the Nielsens.

[photopress:14382__chuck_l.jpg,thumb,pp_image]A gospel choir blasted critics (and to think it’s usually the other way around) at a lunch held by BET here at the TV critics summer press tour in Beverly Hills to promote upcoming projects. The most intriguing is “Hip Hop vs.America,” on behalf of which Chuck D (“fight the power!” the choir sang) and the Rev. Al Sharpton shared the stage.

Why is the media suddenly focusing on the dangers of hip-hop, some 20 years after the musical form became part of the mainstream pop culture? “The media have a Columbus complex,” Sharpton said, “they discover something and pretend like it wasn’t there before.”

Chuck D said he hopes the series will identify “a lot of hidden faces” of big record companies that produce some of the worst of the genre.

And what does Chuck D think of Flavor Flav on VH1’s “Flavor of Love?”
“I come from a black family, and one thing black folks know is you always got that one in your family,” he said. “Like Jimmy Carter had Billy..There’s always one.”

At this point in the summer I usually watch a pilot of the fall series. But I’ve been tearing through additional episodes of “Tell Me You Love Me,” due on HBO Sept. 9. Due to graphic sex scenes the show has generated lots of buzz. There will be lots to say about the unprecedented (even on cable) anatomy shots this fall.

The truth is, the story of three couples at different stages of life/marriage all seeing the same couples counselor (Jane Alexander) is quite compelling. Very quickly it becomes apparent that the sex was piled on thick at the start, but that the words are more interesting than all the friction of body parts in subsequent hours.

By hour four, the performances in bed are mirroring those in the therapy sessions, only less articulately. People will call it a sex show, but honestly it’s about relationships. The acting is so persuasive, you’ll wonder how much is acting. Ally Walker (“Profiler”) is the name you’ll recognize after Alexander’s.

We are conditioned by television to expect some kind of resolution, but David Chase took a more literate route. He deprived us a neat ending, prompting us to talk about the dynamics for days/weeks to come.

Tonight’s “Sopranos” finale was more life-like than movie-like. No hail of bullets, no tying up of loose ends. The Soprano family could be shot down today, tomorrow or in a year. We don’t know. For now, they delight in onion rings and, as AJ quoted Tony, “focus on the good times.”

It all came down to psychodynamics: “You see, I never could please my mother,” Tony said. Carmela’s face registered the response most of America would have: ‘you gotta be kiddin’.

Ultimately, who was better off? Junior, senile in a wheelchair, or Tony, now and forever looking over his shoulder–perhaps to be off’d by the guy in the bathroom? “It’s not like we haven’t envisioned this day,” Tony’s lawyer said.

Jack Valenti, the colorful head of the Motion Picture Association of America and long-time LBJ insider, died Thursday at 85. As chief lobbyist for Hollywood, he fended off attempts to reign in sex and violence on the screen; yet as the designer of the ratings system, he was seen as the main problem behind the non-censoring censors that is the MPAA.

For more insight into his career and the peculiar ratings system he championed, see “This Film is Not Yet Rated,” airing Tuesday on IFC (set the VCR/DVR for 1 a.m.).

“This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” the 2006 documentary from Academy Award-nominated director Kirby Dick and producer Eddie Schmidt, reveals the huge effect the inscrutable ratings system has had on filmmakers and on American culture in general.

America Ferrera wore pricey Jimmy Choos and a revealing black BCBG dress to the ABC party, which she hid under a high-styled black Marc Jacobs raincoat. Stunning, with no braces and perfectly plucked eyebrows, the titular star of “Ugly Betty” noshed on salami and cheese while dishing wisdom about making sure young girls feel self-confident beyond superficial beauty. Yes, but can she walk in those things? “I can get from the car to here,” she said.[photopress:107151_d_0721_pre.jpg,thumb,pp_image]

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.